Update 1.4 of the World Leaders app has just been approved by Apple. This adds Presidents of Russia to the ever expanding list of leaders.
Approval in just 2 days again. Good to see Apple on the ball!
Today, my Torch Lite app hit the 10,000 download mark!
Unfortunately, since this is a free app, this doesn’t translate into any money, however I think it’s still quite an achievement.
Looking at the download stats it seems that the French really love it!
Thanks to all who have tried the app. I hope it lights your way!
Update 1.3 of the World Leaders app has just been sent to Apple for approval. This adds Presidents of Mexico to the ever expanding list of leaders.
Lets hope approval is as quick as the last update earlier this month which got through in just 2 days!
Attending two very different concerts in the past month, I was struck by the stark difference in iPhone ownership.
First concert was a tribute to Joni Mitchell, held at the Sydney Opera House, featuring seven beautiful female singers (SMH). These women were truly awesome, especially in the fantastic acoustics of the Concert Hall. The event was refined and civilized, with many dressing up for the occasion and champagne at the interval. As I scanned the assembled crowd, I couldn’t help but notice the number of people sporting iPhones. There were at least half a dozen within my immediate vicinity, close enough that I could see what apps were on display. Overall, of the phones I spotted, I’d say at least 80% were iPhones.
The second concert, last night at the Sydney Football Stadium, was Pearl Jam, with Ben Harper in support. Another awesome concert, but this time more for its energy and volume, rather than its beauty. It was also hot, very hot. It was 41 Celsius outside the stadium, after the concert at 10:30pm, and it was much hotter inside during the show. As I looked across to the stage, rather than a sea of fans holding up lighter (as was the way, not that long ago), there was instead a sea of mobile phone screens, attempting to capture the moment on video. What really struck me, however (and I looked pretty hard) was that I never saw a single iPhone.
I’m not quite sure what to make of this. The Pearl Jam concert was more expensive, even drinks were dearer ($9 for a can of vodka and tonic! – about the same as a glass of champagne at the Opera House). Most of the crowd at the Pearl jam concert were, at a guess, 20 – 35, whereas most at the Jodi Mitchell tribute were over 35. Maybe younger people have got better things to spend their money on than pretentious iPhones. Maybe older people don’t! Either way, it was interesting to observe, although what it says about my taste in music is another matter.
A prediction of the types of apps we may be using in the future (from Gartner via Shiny Shiny)
No. 1: Money Transfer
This service allows people to send money to others using Short Message Service (SMS). Lower costs, faster speed and convenience compared with traditional transfer services, appeals to developing markets.
No. 2: Location-Based Services
Location-based services (LBS) form part of context-aware services, a service that Gartner expects will be one of the most disruptive in the next few years. Gartner predicts that the LBS user base will grow globally from 96 million in 2009 to more than 526 million in 2012.
No. 3: Mobile Search
The industry needs to improve the user experience of mobile search so that people will come back to the same engines. Consumers will stay loyal to some search services, but instead of sticking to one or two search providers on the internet, Gartner expects loyalty on the mobile phone to be shared between a few search providers that have unique technologies for mobile search.
No. 4: Mobile Browsing
Mobile browsing is a widely available technology present on more than 60 per cent of handsets shipped in 2009, a percentage Gartner expects to rise to approximately 80 per cent in 2013. Gartner has ranked mobile browsing No. 4 because of its broad appeal to all businesses.
No. 5: Mobile Health Monitoring
Mobile health monitoring is the use of IT and mobile telecommunications to monitor patients remotely, and could help governments, care delivery organisations (CDOs) and healthcare payers reduce costs related to chronic diseases and improve the quality of life of their patients. These are Doctor on your phone apps.
No. 6: Mobile Payment
Mobile payment made Gartner’s top ten list because of the number of parties it affects — including mobile carriers, banks, merchants, device vendors, regulators and consumers — and the rising interest from both developing and developed markets. Because of the many choices of technologies and business models, as well as regulatory requirements and local conditions, mobile payment will be a highly fragmented market.
No. 8: Mobile Advertising
Mobile advertising in all regions is continuing to grow through the economic downturn, driven by interest from advertisers in this new opportunity and by the increased use of smartphones and the wireless Internet. Total spending on mobile advertising in 2008 was $530.2 million, which Gartner expects to will grow to $7.5 billion in 2012.
No. 9: Mobile Instant Messaging
Cost and the inability to type fast enough have historically held back adoption of mobile instant messaging (IM), while uncertain business models have precluded widespread carrier deployment and promotion. Mobile IM is on Gartner’s top ten list because of latent user demand and market conditions that are conducive to its future adoption. It has a particular appeal to users in developing markets that may rely on mobile phones as their only connectivity device.
No.10: Mobile Music
Mobile music so far has been disappointing — except for ring tones and ring-back tones, which have turned into a multibillion-dollar service. On the other hand, it is unfair to dismiss the value of mobile music, as consumers want music on their phones and to carry it around. We see efforts by various players in coming up with innovative models, such as device or service bundles, to address pricing and usability issues. iTunes makes people pay for music, which shows that a superior user experience does make a difference.
The Torch Lite app is a very simple free app, allowing your phone/ipod touch to show you the way on dark nights!
It came about following some coding experiments with bouncing a ball around the screen. If I made the ball big and white, I thought it looked a bit like the beam of a torch tracking across the screen. So, I added a few different colour balls, a few fade and box effects and some simple blank screens, and hay presto – a torch lite app.
I figured that the default behavior of the screen turning itself off would be a bit annoying if you were really using your phone as a torch. However, leaving the app on full white screen would drain the battery, so I added battery checking so that the app would stay on, only if the battery was over 20%. This took a bit of time to test (waiting for the battery to flatten) but worked out well in the end. I think it’s quite a useful feature.
Most of the screens are really just eye candy, and if you just need an app to act like a torch, then the plain white screen is all you need.
The app has been out there for about a month with about 3000 downloads. Interestingly, most downloads are from France and the UK, where a portable lighting device is called a Torch, unlike the US where I assume its normally referred to as a Flash Light.
It was an interesting experiment to see if I could get an app built and deployed in a single day. As it turned out, it took about a day and a half, so overall, I was pretty pleased.
Following rather poor sales, I’ve decided to make the Quick Brown Fox a free app.
The app was released about 2 months ago. Initial sales were pretty much non existent. I think I sold about 10 in the first week. So, I spent a day investigating all the app review sites I could find and sent off about a dozen emails requesting reviews. I tried to address each email to the correct person and included promo codes and all the appropriate links to my site and iTunes. To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much success. I’m sure these sites get hundreds of requests each day.
Then to my absolute delight, AppStruck actually reviewed my app! I think it appeared on a Friday and the review remained on top of their page all weekend. I was pretty pleased with the review. 3 stars and quite fair I thought.
So, the next day, I checked my sales figure with much excitement and anticipation. Hmmm, nothing – must be the reporting delay. The figures often seem a day behind. I’m sure the next day will be better. No, nothing again. Next day? Nothing! Next Day – Yes! one guy in Japan bought the app!
Not very happy 
I decided to give it a while in the hope that someone else may review the app but no such luck.
After almost 2 months on App Store, I sold a grand total of 16 @ 99c. ROI 23c/hour.
Only one thing for it, might as well give it away. I added a little advertisement to the high score screen, released a new version and made it free.
That was about a week ago. So far I’ve had over 900 downloads in 7 days and a 5 star review from a happy customer in the UK.
So what have I learned:
I am pleased to announce the release of the Torch Lite iPhone application.
Torch Lite is yet another free Torch/Flash Light application.
See the Torch Lite page for more information.
I am pleased to announce the release of the Robs’ Lists iPhone application.
Robs’ Lists is an indispensable source of information, available at your fingertips.
Facts, figures, dates and trivia, all available within the application, without the need, speed or expense of internet access.
Information is sourced from all over the web, with a majority of it coming from Wikipedia.
See the Rob’s Lists page for more information.
A free version is also available.
This is a fully working version of Robs’ Lists, but with less lists!
